The conflict between birds of prey and gamebirds is receiving more attention in recent years, both from the point of view of raptor conservation (Kenward 1999) as well as from the point of view of the conservation of gamebird populations (Nelson 2001). The most striking result
of this conflict in Europe was the heavy persecution to which bird of prey populations were subject during the second half of the XIXth century and most of the XXth century (Bijleveld 1974, Newton 1979a), which caused the extirpation or severe reduction of several of them
(Newton 1979b). Current positive population trends of many species that were formerly
heavily persecuted indicates that bird of prey persecution is, nowadays, far from being a widespread activity as it used to be in the past. However, the conflict that generated this persecution is far from being solved. The generalised decline of gamebird populations in Europe, mainly as a consequence of habitat changes and inadequate gamebird management in many areas, has lead to increased concern by hunters about predation. This is particularly important in areas where gamebird shooting relies on restocking operations (Harradine 1997), very sensitive to the impact of predation.